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Archive for Shellfish

Eating Tel Aviv – Shila

Aug16

Restaurant: Shila

Location: Rehov Ben Yehuda 182, Tel Aviv 6347122, Israel. +972 3-522-1224

Date: July 3, 2019

Cuisine: Israeli

Rating: Great

_

The end of our trip brought us to bustling Tel Aviv.
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Only about 100 years old, Tel Aviv is a radically different kind of city than Jerusalem.
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For our first restaurant we went to Shila.

The restaurant was established ten years ago by Sharon cohen and his wife Adi. At the first years Sharon worked with 2 cooks and Adi with 1 waitress. Year after year, step by step the restaurant grows and expanded its size, staff and culinary vision. Today shila became a home for people that love to eat and have fun, Sharon Cohen, the chef, manages his kitchen with laughter and humor behind the Flame, Seasoned with grace and serves with love.
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The interior is decidedly more modern than most of what we’ve seen in Israel up to this point. Space was crowded and buzzy too.
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The menu.
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Bread.
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Tahini and spicy sauce.
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Fisherman’s Caaprese. Mozzarella di Bufala, cherry tomatoes & Spanish anchovies.
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Iron salad. Spinach, endive, walnuts, beetroot carpaccio & Feta cheese.

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Yellowtail Sashimi. Sliced apricot, cherries, wakame seaweed & Labaneh stone.

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Sea fish tartar. wrapped in avocado, served with almonds and a mint Aioli.

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Tel-Aviv mix of fish on top of tzatziki & pita bread.

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Green Tortellini. filled with a homemade Ricotta. Served with Crystal shrimp and crab meat.

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Fish Fillet and Lobster Ravioli in a Swiss Chard Stew with a lemon butter sauce served with mussels, Tiger shrimp & calamari.
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Seafood spaghettini. Shrimps, mussels & calamari in crab stock & pickled caper leaves.

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The dessert menu.
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Entremet. Dark & Milk Chocolate Mousse, Salted Caramel Cremeux, Sesame Crumble & Sesame Nougatine.
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Caribbean Crème Brule. Crème Brule, Almonds Crumble, Coconut ice cream & tropical fruits.

Overall, Shila was great. It was young, hip, loud, crowded, and full of energy. Service was good. The food was more unusual and more contemporary than many places we visited up until this point. The presence of so much “seafood” (aka tref, shellfish) was a pleasant change too. It was definitely rich, but didn’t come off as heavy.

Click here to see more Eating Israel posts.

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Related posts:

  1. Eating Caesarea – Portcafe
  2. Eating Jerusalem – Dolphin Yam
  3. Eating Jerusalem – Mona
  4. Eating Israel – Aroma Cafe
  5. Eating Rosh Pina – Auberge Shulamit
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Eating Israel, Eating Tel Aviv, fish, Sharon Cohen, Sharon Cohen's Kitchen & Bar, Shellfish, Tel Aviv

Sometimes You Want to Get Crabs

Sep18

Restaurant: Seafood Village

Location: 684 W Garvey Ave. Monterey Park, CA 91754. (626) 289-0088

Date: September 15, 2013

Cuisine: Chiu Chow Chinese

Rating: quite tasty!

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Chinese food is incredible regional, and we are blessed in SoCal with a lot of very specific resteraunts (mostly in the San Gabriel Valley). This time, my Hedonist group has head out for some Chiu Chow (also Chaozhou) which is a Southern Chinese style originating in Eastern Guangdong province. This is a fairly ingredient driven Chinese regional cuisine that often features seafood. It has a relationship to Cantonese and is often found in Singaporean cooking (as many Teochew people settled there).

Seafood Village is regarded as one of the best Chiu Chow places in California. It has the usual glamorous SGV exterior.


And interior. But hardly the PF Chang tourist crowd!


Starting off with a little champagne.


Peanuts are traditional on the table in China. I suppose that the allergic are just put out of their misery quickly.


1998 Château Monbousquet Blanc. 91 points. Straw, lemon grass, mineral nose; earthy, lemon grass, mineral palate; medium finish. A very pleasant white Bordeaux with mineral flavors.


A typical cold appetizer platter. In the center, jellyfish. Starting with the top and heading clockwise: roast duck, cuttlefish, pork gut, fried tofu (yummy), pork stomach, and pork knuckle.


In case you want to spice it up!


2008 Cold Heaven Viognier. 90 points.


And it’s worth noting this interesting feature of authentic Chinese restaurants. After you eat a lot of some dish, they will “replate” or “consolidate” it into a smaller dish to preserve premium table space.


2005 Wittmann Westhofener Morstein Riesling Trocken. This was a more or less dry riesling, and quite nice.


This is what most people come here for, the house special Chiu Chow Style Crab (Dungeness). This is basically battered crab, fried with chilies and lots of garlic. I’ve also heard this called “Causeway Style.” Good stuff with lots of flavor. You end up sucking out the meat mostly.


2012 Recuerdo Torrontés. 88 Points. A very floral light white made by Jose, one our very own Hedonists!


One of are party wasn’t into “weird stuff” and ordered themselves some orange chicken. Go figure. It was fine, but nothing special.


From my cellar, 1970 Gros Frère et Sœur Vosne-Romanée. 92 points. It was still very much alive and drinking quite beautifully. A veritable chameleon in the glass, the aromas kept changing every time I brought the glass to my nose. First sour cherries, then papaya, then raspberries, then red clay, then lemon rind, then caramel — it was intoxicating. The palate, on the other hand, was a bit simple and one-dimensional, but I thought the nose more than made up for it. A lovely wine! My favorite of the night — being a Burghound!


Special Turtle Soup. This is a very pleasant broth with lots of umani flavor.


And in case you wondered f it was authentic enough, check out the chicken foot!


2000 Araujo Estate Syrah Eisele Vineyard. IWC 89. Full ruby-red. Rich, smoky aromas of plum, blackberry, bitter chocolate, smoked meat, minerals, tobacco and licorice. Sweet, lush, chocolatey and seamless; a distinctly warm-climate syrah with exotic notes of roasted berries. But there’s also lovely lift from the blackberry and violet notes. Finishes firmly tannic, oaky and long, with notes of spice and bitter chocolate.


Chilies with ground pork. I’ve never seen Jalepenos per se in China, but they do have lots of peppers. Regardless, this was a fabulous dish as the pork was cooked in a great black bean sauce and the combination of the mild heat and the slightly sweet meat was wonderful.


2009 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave St. Joseph. IWC 93. Opaque ruby. Expansive, seductive aromas of blackberry and blueberry preserves, cherry pit and fresh flowers, plus a sexy incense note and a touch of licorice. Stains the palate with dark berry and spicecake flavors, with smoky minerality adding cut to the back end. Blends depth and vivacity smoothly, finishing with outstanding clarity and lingering sweetness.


Sautéed jellyfish heads with asparagus. Not bad — for jellyfish.


2011 Luisi Barbera d’Asti. 82 points. I didn’t try it, as I’m not much of a Barbera fan. Works occasionally with pizza.


Rock fish steamed with ginger and garlic. This was a lovely fish and the meat was perfectly done and very succulent.


2009 Orma Toscana IGT. IWC 92. Fully saturated ruby-purple. Sexy aromas of ripe dark plum, Asian spices, licorice and cocoa powder, with a floral quality adding lift and freshness. At once suave and penetrating, with very good energy and definition to the flavors of sweet red cherry, dark plum, mocha and fresh herbs. In a distinctly ripe style, but with a vibrant, long finish thanks to harmonious acidity. The sweet, broad tannins show a distinct chocolatey ripeness.


Duck with mushrooms. It’s hard to tell them apart (the duck has bones) as the heavy gravy gives it all a brown sheen. This dish might look a bit sketchy, but it tastes great with a rich heady earthiness to the sauce and a pleasant spongey texture to the woody mushrooms.


2011 Vigilance Petite Sirah. I didn’t try this either.


Special Chiu Chow Style “lettuce”. Evidently a classic. It head a bit of a porky taste so there must have been something in there with the veggies. Not bad.


2008 chin chin syrah. Another wine by Jose.


Beans, lotus root, and oxtail. Interesting mix of flavors and textures. The meat was fatty of  course, but full of flavor.


Clearly someone had too much pork gut.


2007 Lillian Winery Syrah. IWC 94. Opaque purple. A kaleidoscopic bouquet evokes black raspberry, cola, incense and olive tapenade, with a sexy floral quality that gains power with aeration. Lush, palate-staining dark berry preserve flavors are complemented by exotic spice and violet pastille qualities and are lifted by zesty minerality. Gains weight with air but retains its energy, finishing spicy, smoky and with outstanding persistence. Readers should also seek out Maggie Harrison’s excellent Antica Terra pinot noirs from Oregon.


House Special Chiu Chow Style Pan Fried Noodles. There are also shrimp, pork, mushrooms, and sprouts in here.


This might not seem like the most sophisticated dish, but the sauce was really really good with the tender noodles. I used to get a similar dish as a kid and found not not only delicious, but deeply nostalgic.


This Vin Santo was a rather wonderful sticky of the passito/Sherry PX variety. Oddly, it’s from Greece (Santorini) — doesn’t matter, as it’s very good.


Taro with Ginko dessert. God only knows what the white stuff was. There were grapes and ginko nuts, blobs of taro, and a gelatinous mass that that was supposedly snow fungus. The net effect was sweet and vaguely chewy. I think it’s a Chiu Chow speciality.


Jose brought some (apparently) 19th century Madeira in this little flask. It was good. Caramelized, complex, and well… like good Maderia.


Almost mochi filled with red bean, mung bean, egg custard, and taro. Not as good as true ice cream mochi, but enjoyable the same.

Overall, an incredibly fun evening as usual. We even went next door afterward to overwhelm the minimall’s $15 an hour foot massage place, which is always great except that Yarom got screwed since we had one person more than they had masseuses. These Chinese outings are great fun with really interesting, tasty, and reasonable food.

The Seafood Village staff treated us great, bringing the dishes one at a time, and being extremely friendly and helpful — if occasionally confounded by our lack of Mandarin (or perhaps they spoke the Chiu Chow dialect, I wouldn’t know). Great fun.

We were also joined (see below) by Chef Kaz Oyama of the amazing Totoraku, who is now an honorary Hedonist, and he took it seriously by consuming his fair share of libations.

For more LA dining reviews click here.

or more crazy Hedonist dinners here!

This dinner included Chef Kaz from the the amazing beef joint, Totoraku! (right)

Related posts:

  1. Shanghai #1 Seafood Village
  2. Dim Sum is Shanghai #1
  3. Where in the world is Yanbian?
  4. Food as Art: Ping Pong
  5. Hedonists Hunan Style
By: agavin
Comments (2)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Chaozhou, China, Chui Chow, crab, hedonists, san Gabriel valley, Seafood, Shellfish, Singapore

Eating Colle di Val d’Elsa – Arnolfo

Jul09

Restaurant: Arnolfo Ristorante

Location: Colle di Val d’Elsa, Italy

Date: June 16 & 23, 2011

Cuisine: Tuscan

Rating: Awesome, but hard to find

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Just fifteen minutes from our villa and Siena lies the city of Colle di Val d’Elsa and its two star rated Michelin restaurant, Arnolfo. So we went twice! This is an amazing restaurant in a gorgeous location atop the old city. The rub, however, is getting there. The first time the GPS insisted we drive into a masonry wall (closed road). We gave up with that, parked, and ended up walking over a mile, including taking the elevator up to the old city. The walk back wasn’t no fun either and the staff told us that to actually drive here you have to go 6km out of your way to the next town and then come back by one particular approach — but then there is no parking in the old city.

So the next time, feeling all smart, I tried to park in the “close” (only 500m) lot below the old city. But the first entrance I tried was so narrow that I almost got stuck and had to back up my 9 seater van down 200m of alley and around a 90 degree turn — only took 30 minutes and soaked through my suit in the 88 degree humid weather. Then we had to hike up the half mile.

But it was worth it.


They have a gorgeous patio which far from “being in the middle of a city” looks out on the Tuscan hillside.


Even the non-view direction is lovely.


Grissini, first of several bread courses.


The menu on June 16 (the last of the “spring menu”).


And the new “summer” menu on June 23, as we luckily straddled the change.


Compari and soda.


Stating with a little prosecco to cool off.


In the glass.


Then comes a tray of amuses. From left to right. Green pea mouse, tomato stuffed with mozzarella, apple disc with prawn, veal croquet, and gorgonzola and fig jam sandwich. These were all good, but the last was incredible.


Like most great restaurants Arnolfo caters to every restriction. This is a variant amuse plate for vegetarians.


For example this beet and goat cheese mini.


Bread course number two, tomato bread and with lardo (sliver of pig fat).


And for those not so into the pig, the one on the right is onion.


Nor are the gluten free left out. Various potato and rice triscuits!


I’ve come to like Vernaccia, which is a D.O.C. white from San Gimignano. Very light, but with more flavor than a Pinot Grigio.


“Scampi, Goose Liver Escalope, Strawberries.”


“Sea Bass, Strawberries.” A variant for the shellfish impaired.

My notes failed me a little here, but I think it’s some kind of fish (possibly a pork belly though) in a pea soup.


Heads up, bread course three!


“Red mullets, Peas, Silver skin Onions.”


“Asparagus, Ricotta Cheese, Eggs.” Now this was an interesting dish. The white asparagus were grilled and wrapped in pancetta (bacon). The white and yellow stuff is deconstructed egg (yolk and white as powder). The ricotta is in the upper right and was delicious. The powder wasn’t as successful as the bonus egg, shown below.


This is more or less a coddled egg. I dipped the asparagus for extra umph.


This was a small production local Chianti Classico that the sommeler recommended. Good too, and like 30E. Try to find a decent wine at that price at a French 2 star!


“Guinea-Fowl, Chick-peas, I.G.P. Tuscan Ham.” Good stuff.

“Spinach soup with sea bass, tomato.”


“Perlina Aubergines, Tomato, Watermelon, Buffalo Mozzarella I.G.P.”


“Prawns, Peaches, Yellow Pepper.” Yummy. The pairing of the delicate shellfish was delicious with both the fruit and the peppers.


Arnolfo has very nice presentation, which I couldn’t photo every aspect of.


“Goose Liver, Red Onions, Spices, Cherries.” Oh wow yum. And that is some kind of cheese foam/ice cream on top. This was really good stuff.

And two extra goose liver preps for good measure. A sort of Napoleon and a little pistachio coated truffle, solid fois inside.


“Rabbit, Bloack Olives, Ratatouille.” Not your everyday Ratatouille. Notice the white asparagus too.


“Turbot with mozzerella.”


“Tortelli with chicken from Val d’Orcia, with asparagus and red pepper soup.” These are serious homemade pastas.

“Tortelli, Red Onions from Certaldo, White Beans from Sorana.”


“Mezzelune pasta, Courgettes flowers, Wedge shells.”


“Tagliolini, Rabbit, Black Olives.” In the front, out of focus, are discs of rabbit meat to go with the chunks of bunny in the pasta.


“Ravioli, Aubergines, Ewe’s Ricotta, Red Pepper.”


Gluten free pasta too!


“The 2006 Badia a Passignano Chianti Classico Riserva is a pretty, juicy red laced with cherries, dried flowers, tobacco and underbrush. The tannins dry out a touch on the finish, which is the only thing that keeps the score from going higher. Still, this forward, fruit-driven Chianti should drink nicely over the next few years. Anticipated maturity: 2010-2016. “


“Cod, with onions.” And some other stuff.


“Fish soup, Crustaceans, Mollucs, Vegetables.”


“John Dory, Asparagus, Datterini Tomatoes, Capers from Pantelleria.”


“Dentex, Gazpacho, Aubergines.”


“Swordfish, Roasted Peppers, Candied Tomatoes.” You can see that each dish is quite complex.


A brunello recommended by the sommelier.


“I.G.P. Chianina Veal Steak and cheek.”


“I.G.P. Chianina Veal Tartar and vegetables.”


I didn’t used to be into tartar, but it’s really been growing on me over the last several years. Quail egg on top.


“I.G.P. Chiania Veal Steak, Potatoes.”


“Cinta Senese Suckling Pig, Porchetta, Leg, Loin, Leaf Cabbage, Beetroots.”


This town evidently produces 14% of the world’s crystal. Italian shopping hours being what they are, despite three visits, we never saw one open.


Ah the suffering involved in dining in one of the world’s great wine regions. 93 points from Parker. “Consulting oenologist Carlo Ferrini has turned out a beautiful wine at this historic estate, a property which he speaks of in effusive terms. Talenti’s sublime 2001 Brunello Pian di Conte exhibits a deep, translucent ruby color. It opens with captivating, vibrant aromatics, with notes of freshly cut roses, raspberries and licorice. Gorgeously expressive yet delicate on the palate, it offers layers of dark fruit, earthiness and sweet oak supported by a refined, classic structure, with exceptional length and fine, silky tannins on the fresh finish. It is a superb effort. Anticipated maturity: 2008-2021.”

We are assaulted by a battery of pre-desserts. Vanilla ice cream with cherry rhubarb “soup.”

“Almond Mascarpone, pistachio ice cream.”


“Ricotta Cheese, Orange, Honey.” Tart and sweet.


“Selection of Tuscan Sheep’s-milk and Goat’s-milk Cheeses.”


And some nice condiments.


I can’t even remember what this one was.


“Zuccotto, Star Anis, Coffee, Fennel Ice Cream.”


“Grand Dessert Assortment.” Because one isn’t enough. Chocolate cake, Passionfruit sauce. Coffee something. Strawberry flan. A bit of the above Zuccotto, and something else.


“Zuccotto, Pinenuts, Alkermes, Chocolate Sorbet, Fleur del Sel.” The central thing was basically a meringue.


“Fruit and custard mille fueile.”


“Apricots, Almonds, Lavender Ice Cream.”


Worth a bit of zoom.


And this too.


We also had a birthday (mine more or less), so there was this bonus cake!

And just a few petite fours. Lemon jelly in the center. A little fruit tart on the right.

More, on the second night. Berry tart. Ricotta vanilla dome. Pistachio burger. Blackberry mouse. Almond marzipan.


Our second meal here was slightly better than the first for some reason, but both were top notch. Service was spectacular all around. Highly recommended as a very updated medium modernist take on Tuscan cuisine. The quality of local ingredients was impeccable, and they know how to modernize playfully without letting the techniques get out of control.

Click here to see more Eating Italy posts.

Related posts:

  1. Eating Colle di Val d’Elsa – Dietro Le Quinte
  2. Eating Siena – Trattoria Pepei
  3. Eating Monteriggioni – Il Pozzo
  4. Eating Castellina – Albergaccio di Castellina
  5. Eating Staggia – Pozzo dei Desideri
By: agavin
Comments (4)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Arnolfo, beef, Bread, Breadstick, Chianti, Colle di Val d'Elsa, Colle di Val d’Elsa, Cooking, Dessert, eating-italy, fish, Gluten-free diet, GPS, Italian cuisine, Italy, Michelin, Michelin Guide, pasta, pigeon, pork, Shellfish, Tomato, Tuscany, veal

Sushi Glutton – Takao Three

May19

Restaurant: Takao [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6]

Location: 11656 San Vicente Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90049. (310) 207-8636

Date: May 15, 2011

Cuisine: Japanese / Sushi

Rating: 9/10 creative “new style” sushi

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I’ve already covered Takao in some detail HERE and then separately here, but we went back (we go often) and I built another “custom omakase” trying some different things. The full menu and some information on the history of the place can be found through the first link.


House cold sake. Masumi “Okuden-Kanzukuri” Nagano prefecture.


Heirloom totmato salad with sesame dressing.


Tai (red snapper), with garlic, salt, red peppercorn, onions, olive oil. A very bright flavor, and the peppercorns, not spicy at all, add a nice textural component.


Seared bonito sashimi with scallions and ginger in ponzu.


Miso soup. I think if you ask they have a couple different types. This is the basic scallion and tofu.


Uni (sea urchin) tempura with shiso leaf and seaweed. Sea salt.


There is also the classic tempura dipping sauce.


Here is a closeup of one of the Uni fries. This stuff is yummy! With the crunch of the fry, the minty flavor of the shiso and the briney soft taste/texture of the sea urchin pairing wonderfully.


“Scottish Salmon ‘to-ban’ Taki.” Salmon and vegetables cooked on Japanese earthenware ‘to-ban’ with special Miso sauce.


Rock Shrimp Tempura Dynamite. The underlying component is in itself tasty. Sweet rock shrimp perfectly fried. Then you ad some dynamite with it’s zesty zing and it gets even better. For those not in the know Dynamite is a warm sauce consisting of mayo, sriarcha hot sauce, and masago semlt roe.


The big sushi plate. This was all mine! And so were most of the preceding dishes.


Kani (Alaskan king crab) sushi.


Japanese scallop sushi (raw).


On the bottom, Ika (squid), perfect chewy pasty texture. Underneath was shiso leaf.


Scottish Salmon.


Kanpachi (young yellowtail).


Uni (sea urchin — from Santa Barbara).


kura (salmon eggs).


O-toro (ultra fatty tuna belly). Like butter!


Unagi (fresh water eel) BBQ, with sweet BBQ sauce.


Tamago (sweet egg omelet) sushi.

And this wraps up the custom omakase.

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Below is the Salmon Terriyaki “set dinner,” it comes with everything shown.


Salad.


Mixed tempura.


Miso soup.


Salmon Terriyaki.


Rice.


Choice of dessert, in this case vanilla mochi balls (ice cream coated in sweetened pounded rice).


The chefs at work, Takao himself on the right.

For more LA area sushi, see here.

Related posts:

  1. Takao Two
  2. Food as Art – Takao
  3. Sushi Sushi – Small Omakase
  4. Sushi Sushi Sushi
  5. Sushi Sushi = Yummy Yummy
By: agavin
Comments (9)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Black pepper, Dessert, Fish and Chips, Hamachi, Japanese cuisine, Los Angeles, Miso, Nagano Prefecture, sake, Sashimi, Sea urchin, Shellfish, Sushi, Takao, vegetarian, Wine tasting descriptors

The Lobster claws at the pier

May07

Restaurant: The Lobster

Location:  1602 Ocean Ave. Santa Monica, California 90401.  310.458.9294

Date: April 29, 2011

Cuisine: Seafood

Rating: Great view, decent food.

ANY CHARACTER HERE

Every couple months we go to the Lobster. It’s located right at the top of Santa Monica Pier and has a tremendous view of the pier and the ocean, lots of seafood, and a lively scene. It is a little overpriced, but view spots tend to be.


The top of the pier.


The main room inside, with views of the ocean.


The menu.


Typical sour-dour seafood resteraunt bread.


A kind of chimichuri dipping sauce for the bread.


The wine list. I got a couple glasses of the ever reliable J.J. Prum Kabinet Riesling.


“Organic Country Fresh Farms Baby Greens. Fennel, Cherry Tomatoes & Shaved Parmesan with Red Wine Vinaigrette.”


“Manila Clam Chowder. Applewood Smoked Bacon & Weiser Farms Fingerling Potatoes.” This was a slightly different take on the New England clam chowder. I liked the clams in the shell factor, certainly makes it pretty. The broth had a nice flavor, but without the thick creamy whiteness of the totally traditional variant. It was a bit more like a corn chowder, or certain types of traditional Irish soups.


“Grilled Wild Columbian River King Salmon. Coleman Farms Baby Broccoli, Caramelized Onion, Weiser Farms Fingerling Potatoes & Tart Cherry Gastrique.” This would have been good except for the fact that while it was ordered medium well, it was medium-rare, and the pink inside didn’t have the firmness it should, but had turned into that kind of salmon mush. We actually sent it back. Cooked right it would have been fine.


“Butter Poached Lobster. Tutti Fruitti Farms Sweet English Peas, Wild Mushroom Ragout & Lobster Mash.” I usually get this, and there’s a reason. I love lobster. I love buttery bisque-style lobster sauces. I love pees, and mash potatoes go well with all of the above. Really, what’s not to like.

The hopping bar scene. It was even more crowded outside on the patio.

The Lobster is fairly typical of mid-high end ocean-view American places. The food is better than Gladstones (see below), and if you order right can be very good, but it certainly isn’t a stellar kitchen. Still, it can be a fun place and a very enjoyable meal, particularly if you enjoy our favorite North Atlantic crustacean.

For two reviews of Gladstones, check HERE and HERE.

Related posts:

  1. Quick Eats: Houstons
  2. Quick Eats – Gladstones by the Sea
  3. January in Paradise Cove
  4. Figs are in Season
  5. Parlez Vu Modern?
By: agavin
Comments (0)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: California, Clam chowder, Dessert, Fennel, fish, Fish and Seafood, Lobster, New England, potatoes, Restaurant, Restaurant Review, Salmon, Santa Monica California, Santa Monica Pier, Seafood, Shellfish, side dishes, Soups and Stews, United States, vegetarian

Tidewater Crab

Apr26

Restaurant: Tidewater Grille

Location:  300 FRANKLIN STREET, HAVRE DE GRACE, MD 21078 410.939.3313

Date: April 18, 2011

Cuisine: Eastern Shore American

Rating: Real crab cakes!

ANY CHARACTER HERE

One of the great things about the greater Washington DC area is the proximity of authentic Eastern Shore crab (and hence crab cakes!). Technically this is a “guest palette” as my brother was the one doing the eating. So the text and pictures are by Mitch Gavin.


An unassuming coastal frontage but a surprising beautiful find.  My parents have been going to this spot for a decade or two. We used to go to a restaurant up the street with a reputation for great eastern shore crab cakes and fried chicken.  I think I remember a s a kid getting a lot of bacon and dipping it in apple sauce.  To be discussed at a later date.  But in the recent past 2 decades M & D have been talking about this place.  I finally went one recent visit driving from DC to Philly to see my cousins.

To start: Maryland Blue Crab Soup.  Hands down my favorite soup and most scrumptious!  Vegetable base with chunks of tomato, corn, green beans I think and loads of crab meat.  Just crab.  Followed by a spicy seafood seasoning.  Something that reminds you of the beach and spiced vinegar fries.  Hot!  I tried to squeeze a bowl in because it’s going to be a year before I taste something this good again.

Now onto the crab cake!  Tidewater is the best crab cake east or west of the Mississippi.  These things are just so truly American, harder to find and worth savoring every bite.  Again you don’t find this in many places, it’s almost pure crab meat, very large and seared in a pan just right.  The taste of crab is so distinctive and Maryland stands alone at the top, athough Louisiana might get the Blue Crab too and be a closer runner up.  Arguably better tasting than the more expensive Maine Lobster this sandwish melts in your mouth.  The chips at Tidewater are unique — just simple strips of baked potato –and great!  The lettuce and tomato are unnecessary because additions just mask the special taste of the meat, so I recommend just lemon and bun.  No tartar was added to this sandwich.  🙂  [ although Andy adds that he loves tartar sauce because “fat == flavor” ]

After a few iced teas, a cup of soup and the oh so lovely crab sandwich the total was only $24.  Sandwich $14, Soup $4 and tea $2.5.


True tidewater country.


Here is another example, this one from Washington area restaurant Clydes.

Clydes crab cake was surprising lovely too, especially after closely visiting the Tidewater as  acomparrison.  It was a little more seared and smaller but very tasty.  They even simplified the platter for you with no lettuce or tomato, annoying not to be given the choice, especially since they have over the past 30 years.  And I’m not kidding people I’ve been going to this restaurant over 30 years; I even had my Bar Mitzvah there in the bright room upstairs in 1987!

Now the true pride in a restaurant in my opinion is not changing something that’s good.  Over the years, Clyde’s has managed to maintain the absolute best Chili I have ever had, and they have been doing so since before 1985.  It’s dark, molassesy, tangy and damn freaking good.  Seriously I’ve had other “great” chili’s but the tang and flavor of this one keeps me coming back year after year (when home on holidays!).

Dad had to leave early so I ordered the Blondie Brownie Sundae (not pictured), which I liked as a kid for mom and I.  The thing used to come in a tall Sundae glass, have a great grandma blondie brownie with carmel and great vanilla bean ice cream, nuts and everything but when the server brought it out on a flat plate the Blondie Brownie had no brown in it at all. It was disappointing as a too sweet flat white pastry looking thing with some vanilla ice cream, whip creme and thick brown chocolate sauce all over it that wasn’t good, maybe some nuts, the ice cream was similar but in short supply.  Thumbs down and unfinished between two.  That doesn’t say much that we then decided we didn’t need the unnecessary calories.  But on a positive note I’ll be back to Clyde’s again for that Chili, Crab cake and a lot of other stuff.  Clye’s gets a thumbs up.

Some other good crab cakes can be found on the west coast at Houstons or, surprisingly, at Capo. But they aren’t quite the same.

By: agavin
Comments (1)
Posted in: Food
Tagged as: Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus, Clam chowder, crab, Crab cake, Fish and Seafood, Maryland, Shellfish, Tartar sauce, Tidewater
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